Just for Today
by CriticalZero
Summary: Gilbert is down in the dumps and for the life of him, Ludwig can't figure out why. Gilbert is turning down the chance to blast his music and even beer. This has Ludwig greatly concened. Failed summary. Brotherly fluff, rated T for language.


Ludwig's concern was growing. Gilbert was oddly silent for more than five minutes. It wasn't a good sign.

Earlier that morning, the two of them had decided to take a road trip and visit one of their favorite smaller towns in Germany. The "decision" came after Gilbert had pestered Ludwig for nearly an hour, constantly whining or causing messes throughout the house that only Gilbert was capable of creating. Ludwig came to the conclusion that he would be unable to get any work done or have confidence that the house would remain standing through his brother's antics until Gilbert's demand was satisfied.

And so, they had hopped in the car shortly after and began driving. For a while, Gilbert was his normal self. He kept going on and on about the _awesome _beer they had there and this_ awesome _little shop a few blocks down. Ludwig reminded him about his promise to stop brining useless things home because he was sick of finding a place to put all his useless crap.

Ludwig remembered all too well the last time Gilbert had stopped into that "awesome" little shop of his. Gilbert came home with two boxes that day. One contained a huge assortment of tiny metal trinkets, all shaped as various animals. Gilbert claimed that he only wanted the little chicks in the box and that the deal was all or nothing, so naturally he came home with the whole box.

Gilbert had promised that he would sort out the box, keep the chicks in his room to do who knows what with them, and get rid of the rest. Ludwig had begrudgingly agreed, reasoning that they were so small he wouldn't have too much trouble storing them.

Their small size turned out to be the real problem. Gilbert, being the _completely reasonable and logical _older brother that he was, sorted them out in the living room during the night, long after Ludwig had went to bed. The next morning when Ludwig awoke, he found the rejects scattered about the carpeted floor, on the coffee table and all over the coach. If his brother had one talent it was certainly the ability to create messes. Gilbert being nowhere in sight or earshot, was able to escape the clean up Ludwig was forced to do. Due to these "awesome" trinkets being metal, the vacuum wouldn't be able to pick them up so he was forced to clean up the disaster by hand. There were easily more than 300 "awesome" little trinkets that had to be picked up.

The moment he had finished that job, he was startled by the sudden gunshots he heard. Apparently, the other box contained an old Russian uniform which Gilbert found suitable for target practice that day. When Germany confronted him about disturbing the peace at such an early hour, Gilbert retorted that Germany should be happy he was up early, dressed and doing something as useful as target practice. As terrible as that day had been for Ludwig, it had been a blast for Gilbert. He had even hung up the uniform, full of holes, in his room for a couple of months claiming he liked to pretend that it was Ivan's uniform, before Ludwig forced him to take it down saying it looked tacky.

Since Ludwig was sure that they would be visiting this shop again today to bring home more trouble for him, he couldn't understand why his brother was so depressed. He had started out completely normal but as the long drive went on, he became completely silent. Germany would take glances at him every once in a while, and he was slumped down in his seat, head resting on his arm, staring out the window. His fist was clenched tightly as he rested his head against it. His entire body looked tense and ready to fight, but his eyes looked tired, like he had already lost some unseen battle. Ludwig had to admit, he wasn't exactly sure how to handle the situation. The atmosphere became a bit uncomfortable for Ludwig, but Gilbert seemed to pay him no mind.

"Bruder, would you like to turn on the radio…?" Ludwig realized what he could be getting himself into by suggesting that, blaring rock music that could be heard for nearly a mile in every direction, or perhaps he would pop in one of his own CDs and start singing along. However, he would take that over his brother being so depressed.

"No, I don't feel like listening to anything."

With that, Ludwig now confirmed beyond a doubt that something was wrong. He had never known Gilbert to turn down a chance to play painfully loud music, whether it be in a car or anywhere.

It had been about an hour on the road since Gilbert's refusal and it had been completely silent. As much as Ludwig enjoyed his rare moments where he got to enjoy peace and hearing his own thoughts, he knew he had to do something to snap Gilbert out of it.

It would have been easier, however, if Ludwig had the slightest idea what was wrong in the first place. He resorted to the last thing he thought might be able to cheer up his brother.

"Why don't we stop and get a beer or something? We could stretch our legs for a while."

"Don't feel like it."

"We could have a drinking contest or something."

"Don't stop the car. We're not there yet."

To Ludwig, it felt like their roles were reversed. Gilbert was being reasonable _and _turning down beer. Germany's patience was just about spent.

"Alright, what's wrong? You've been dead silent-"

"Nothing's wrong!"

"Gilbert, you just turned down beer. Something is going on."

"…just leave it alone."

Ludwig sighed. Apparently it didn't matter what kind of mood Gilbert was in, he was always so incredibly stubborn.

"Gilbert, either tell me what's wrong or I'm going to pull the car over until you do."

"Don't fucking stop! I don't want to stop here!"

Germany was a bit surprised by his sudden outburst, but he just waited.

Gilbert sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win this battle. "See that building over there? What does it look like to you?"

Germany pulled the car over to the side of the road to get a better look at it. After examining it, he shrugged. "It doesn't look like anything special. It just-"

"It looks like shit, that's what it looks like! It may be old but damn it, that building was, no is, still important! And it looks like absolute shit!"

"Bruder, calm down. What are you talking about?"

"That building, that _castle, my _castle was so important during it's time and now it looks like shit! Absolute shit! It might not mean much to you, but I fought a lot of battles there and because that building held strong I was able to become a country! You have no fucking idea how many nights I depended on that place to stay strong and damn it, it did! But now look at it!" He paused after his yelling to move his hand to his face. It was shaking with incredible rage and he had to take many deep breaths before he could regain control of himself. He continued more quietly, "but I guess since I'm not on the map anymore everyone is forgetting about me, so there's no point in maintaining it. After all, only the history books remember Prussia."

"Bruder, it's just one castle-"

"No, it's not! The whole time we've been driving we've seen nothing but run down places and crappy buildings falling apart! So don't tell me it's just one fucking building!"

Gilbert put his head down into his hands, hiding his eyes and rubbing them. He tried to calm his breathing but Ludwig could feel a hell of a lot of anger radiating off him.

Germany wasn't quite sure how to comfort his brother. He knew he could never fully understand how it felt to have his country taken away from him, to lose everything and to be put through the humiliation his brother had been through when they declared him to no longer be a country, but every so often he got glimpses of how his brother must feel. It was terrifying.

Ludwig found himself at a loss for what to do for his brother. He tentatively reached out his arm to reassure his brother but his hand was swatted away as his brother looked up and out the window yet again. "Screw it, just keep driving. I want some beer."

Obeying his brother's order, Germany pulled back onto the road and tried to keep himself focused on driving. Somehow, hearing his brother's regained desire for beer did nothing to calm him, but only made him more worried.

After arriving at the town, Prussia had gotten completely wasted and hadn't even gone to his favorite store of all sorts of odds and ends that just screamed Gilbert.

Ludwig, on the other hand, only had a few beers, too intent on watching his brother try to drink away his problems. It had worked, he had cheered up a bit, or at least enough to start hitting on the waitress. However, Germany was all too aware that as soon as he got over his hangover in the morning and he had to face reality again, the pain would come back new.

Germany sat at the table in the motel room he had rented out to allow Gilbert to sleep in as he sipped his coffee trying to figure out a way to cheer up his brother. Germany looked out the window towards the rising sun and over the town that would soon come to life. It was incredibly small, even smaller than he remembered. The town was laid out with city hall in the center of town with the only flag pole in front of it towering over most of the buildings. The church was right across the street with a cemetery attached to it. Scattered throughout the town were small shops and homes with only one bar on the far end of town. By the looks of it, the town had always been a small little place, even when it was under the name of Prussia, but everyone in it seemed content with what they had.

It was then that Germany had an idea. He looked back at Gilbert and then at his watch, deciding that he might have just enough time before Gilbert woke up to pull it off. Ludwig grabbed his coat and was about to head out the door before he stopped himself to put a bottle of aspirin and a glass of water of Gilbert's night stand. He was bound to have one hell of a headache when he woke up. Germany stepped out of the door and locked up behind him before quickly moving out. He wanted to get this done before Gilbert woke up.

Gilbert woke up to the worst throbbing pain he had in his head for years. He vowed to kill whatever it was that gave him such a head splitting pain, but then remembering that it was his own doing of drinking the night before, decided against fulfilling that vow. He rolled over and opened his eyes to see a bright red bottle and a glass of water on his night stand. He popped a pill into his mouth and swallowed with the water provided for him. He was silently thankful he had such a responsible younger brother. Just as he was about to get up, the door opened to reveal Ludwig rushing into the room, looking rather disheveled and out of breath.

"Bruder! I'm glad you're up. I have something to show you."

Germany grabbed his brother's hand and quickly yanked him out of bed. Much too quickly for his liking. His hands quickly went to his head as the room spun a bit and the pain in his head increased evermore. "Ah! What the fuck West! Don't just yank awesome people out of bed when they have a hangover!"

"Sorry bruder, but there's something I want you to see."

"Not before I take a piss there isn't."

"Just put your shirt on and come outside with me. It won't take long."

"You want me to go outside with a hangover first thing in the morning? Damn it West, this had better be important." With that he walked out of the room, not bothering to shut the door behind him wearing only jeans and shoes.

"Bruder, your shirt-"

"Screw it and show me what you want to show me!"

Germany guided Gilbert outside and down a block until they were in front of the city hall. Germany put a hand on his brother's shoulder to guide him the rest of the way as he was rubbing the remainders of sleep out of his eyes.

"Look up."

Gilbert obeyed and instantly regretted it. The sun shone so brightly in his eyes he had to look away. This time he looked up again, keeping a hand over his eyes to shield them from the intense rays. Once his eyes adjusted, they went wide with shock. "That's my flag…"

"I thought that seeing your flag again might cheer you up a bit."

"West, it's all worn down and frayed and shit. I don't want to see my flag like that. Where'd you find it? The dump?"

"Well, I found better ones, but this was the only one they would let me use."

"They?"

"I started asking around town to see if anyone had your flag and it turns out pretty much every family here does. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I asked, no one was willing to _give up _their flag. Even for a day. That was the only one I could get. One family had two so they were willing to lend me that one."

"Wait, what? No one would _give up _their flag for a day?"

Gilbert fell silent again as he looked down to the ground, making his face unreadable. Ludwig started to get a bit anxious, wondering if he had done more harm than good. "Gilbert, are you-"

Gilbert threw his hands into the air and Germany had to back away for avoid getting punched as Gilbert exclaimed, "Dude! I'm so _awesome!_ So _awesome_ no one would give _me up!_" His famous grin was plastered on his face and his gloomy mood was instantly lifted. "And to think, everyone has _my _awesome flag hung up in their homes!"

Ludwig smiled; he never realized how much he could miss his brother's stupid antics.

Gilbert slung an arm around Germany's shoulder as he continued to shout, "Come on West! Let's go get some beer with _my _people!"

"Your people…?"

"Ja! My flag, my people! And I think I'll take you up on that drinking contest! I'll show you how it's done! Loser pays West!"

And with that Gilbert was already rushing towards the bar. Germany sighed with another smile on his face. It looked like he had brought the monster he called his brother back. But he figured he could let Prussia exist again, for today at least, as long as it brought that smile, no smirk, back to Gilbert's face.

**Second story, finally. Came up with the idea after reading The Vanished Kingdom. It stated that some of Prussia's buildings had become incredibly worn down and after thinking about how Prussia would react, this story was born. This was written about a year ago now, but I had been too lazy to make a couple changes I had wanted to. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed it. **


End file.
